Three days later,
Arnould de Clerk received orders to come to
Gavere accompanied by twelve hundred
White Hoods and the castle and castlery were entrusted to him as a garrison to keep an eye on the people of
Oudenaarde. It was hardly any time at all after the arrival of
Arnould de Clerk and his company that he heard that some knights and squires who were residing in
Oudenaarde had ventured out. Thus he left
Gavere with at least fifteen hundred men and waited in ambush for those who that morning had gone forth from
Oudenaarde: the
lord of Escornay, the
lord of Reighersvliet,
Sir Jean Villain, the
lord of Enghien, the
Gallois de Masmines, the Bâtard d'Escornay,
Sir Blanchard de Calonne and several others. As these knights and squires were returning to
Oudenaarde, the ambush sprang upon them. Many of them were captured and others beaten down and killed, for they showed mercy to no-one. The knights' and squires' horses were brought to them in timely fashion, and they spurred them on and returned to
Oudenaarde. As soon as they reached the barriers they dismounted and took up defensive positions while they waited for their men and varlets, but before they could go back into the town more than sixty men were left wounded, and others dead.
When they had accomplished this attack,
Arnould de Clerk returned that evening to a nearby abbey called
Ename. There, in the town of
Ename these
Ghenters found
Pierre de Steenhuyse, the
Gallois de Masmines and around one hundred companions of their band.
And so they attacked the abbey into which they had retreated, and the
Gallois de Masmines and his party barely escaped the back way. They boarded a boat and reached
Oudenaarde by night, and related to the lord of Enghien, the
lord of Montigny,
Sir Daniel d'Halewyn, and the knights who were present, how that very evening
Arnould de Clerk and the
White Hoods had entered the town and
abbey of Ename and had slaughtered their companions. He believed that
Pierre de Steenhuyse was dead, and indeed he was, for
Arnould de Clerk and his men made him jump from one of the windows into the square where he was received by spearheads and they killed him, which was a great shame.
SHF 2-205 sync
How the White Hoods and their captain were killed, and how Philip van Artevelde was appointed captain of Ghent.
When the knights and squires who were posted in
Oudenaarde heard that
Arnould de Clerk and the twelve hundred or so
White Hoods he commanded had come to a halt at
Ename, slain their companions and taken the abbey, they were incensed and resolved that night to send their spies there to find out whether they would be found there the next day. They did as commanded, and in the morning their spies reported back that the
White Hoods were showing signs of staying there that day, which these lords were very pleased about.
Thus the
lord of Enghien, the
lord of Montigny, the
lord of Lens, the
lord of Briffeuil, and
Sir Michael de la Hamaide armed themselves, along with over five hundred knights and squires of
Hainault and as many from
Flanders, around three hundred lance and more than a thousand crossbowmen and strapping men-at-arms from
Oudenaarde, and they all advanced towards
Ename.
pb 65 v